


Water your Wizards

by enkelimagnus



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: All the others are around in the background, Background Beauregard Lionett/Yasha, Future Fic, M/M, Mollymauk Tealeaf Lives, Multi, Slice of Life, Weapon care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:36:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29898462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enkelimagnus/pseuds/enkelimagnus
Summary: A slice in the life of Molly and the Nein, after they deal with Lucien and go home to the Xhorhaus
Relationships: Essek Thelyss & Caleb Widogast, Mollymauk Tealeaf/Caleb Widogast, The Mighty Nein & Mollymauk Tealeaf
Comments: 4
Kudos: 74
Collections: Winter's Crest Exchange 2021





	Water your Wizards

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you'll enjoy this!
> 
> This was not supposed to go that way, and then I googled sword care and this... came out of this. Domesticity at its finest, hopefully?

The heels of Molly’s boots hit the cobblestones in loud noises. Louder than the feet of the drows that crossed his paths, at least. None of them seem to mind much, especially compared to the stares he would get in the Empire. Maybe some looked at him with raised eyebrows when he stomped past the reading nook they were occupying, but… nothing was aggressive.

His bag was filled with parchment and ink, the way it always was when he went shopping. He always made a point to buy some, just in case Caleb would need them. He didn’t want to have to go and run for it because they’d forgotten to replenish his stash. 

He was pretty sure the owner of the store he usually went to thought he was the wizard in need of parchment and ink. They rarely, if ever, saw Caleb’s face. 

It was fun to be fooling all of these people like this. Molly could barely read one of Caleb’s books without sticking his tongue out like a kid. The image of him as a powerful wizard was hilarious. 

He stopped to buy some incense for the various shrines on the roof. They were running low as well. Molly disliked not having things filled up. He didn’t want things to run out. Plans could fail if things ran out. 

The shop was small, the walls covered with shelves. Vines wrapped around every empty corner. The shopkeeper, Lora, was a tall half-orc with greying hair and a warm smile. She made some of the best horn balms Jester and Molly had ever found. Jester had even started sending a steady stream of them to Nicodranas for her mother. 

They needed some more, as well as hair oils for pretty much everyone. It was winter, and the cold made their hair care a little difficult. Especially for Molly, who was trying to grow his locks back out. Lucien’s short cropping had undone all of his previous work of growing and caring for the mane. 

It was greatly annoying. His hair would spike out in random ways and taming it was a struggle. Almost every morning, when brushing it out, Molly would curse Lucien’s name over and over, to everyone’s amusement. Lucien had left a lot of things behind but the hairstyle was the one that Molly most loudly hated. The rest, he didn’t really talk about.

His coin purse was lighter when he walked out with more than he needed. He’d gotten some new rings and jewelry to braid in someone’s hair. It fit well with everyone, and he couldn’t really use them on himself yet. Maybe Jester would want him to braid all the little bells she owned into her hair.

Clouds were starting to gently drift into the sky, sign that rain might fall within the next couple of hours. Molly had no desire to get caught outside then. His makeup would run, and not in a nice smudgy sexy way, and he’d need to care for his silk coat and leathers afterwards.

He turned away from the more busy market-filled ward to walk back towards the Firmaments. The light green of the floating lights cast strange shadows on the cobblestones. 

Rosohna was a beautiful dark city. The Firmaments, especially, were serene and twilit. The night was permanent and the moons shone brightly at every moment. Molly liked that part in particular. There was something almost spiritual in being in the constant light of the moons. 

By the time he was at the great door of the Xhorhaus, rain was falling in soft taps against the windows. 

“I’m home!” He called out, even if he didn’t really need to. The jingling of the chime at the door and the noise of his heeled boots had announced his arrival well enough.

He pulled the strap of his bag over his head and walked into the kitchen to start dividing all the purchases. 

All of the hair oils and horn balms for everyone. Razors for Beau and Caduceus, whose fancy undercuts designs needed some freshening up. A lot of thread, may it be to add pages to  Caleb’s spellbooks, for touching up some clothing needing a little bit of work, or for Molly’s embroidery. That would mostly stay in Molly’s sewing stash. 

He’d also acquired extra oils and waxes for their weapons. Their stock of sword oil was dwindling and there was no way Molly was letting his scimitars get rusted because they didn’t have enough oil. Between sword oils, leather care, wood waxes, they spent a considerable amount of money on weapon care. Better that than end up with cracked woods and rusted blades.

He put aside spices, mushrooms and incense for Caduceus, who had been running low on the ones he used in the kitchen. The incense was for the shrines on the roof of the house, but Caduceus was the one who took care of them most of the time, anyway. 

The last major item was a large paper bag of Jester’s favorite pastries. Despite Caduceus’ cooking prowess, nothing really got close to the Nicodrani recipe a bakery in the Gallimaufry district used. 

Caduceus walked into the room then, smiling when he saw the piles Molly was setting out.

“I was about to start a round of tea for everyone,” he pointed out. “The wizards have not come out of the library, and I’m afraid they’ll die of dehydration if we leave them like this.” 

Molly chuckled. Whenever Essek came over to study with Caleb, they usually spent hours all but locked in the library. Regularly, noises of light explosions or excited words could be heard but no sight of them. 

“We should add some of the bear claws with the tea. Get their blood sugar up,” he chuckled as well, helping Caduceus put the spices and mushrooms in their respective vials. 

The soft tapping of the rain against the windows was relaxing. It made Molly distantly remember wet evenings in the tents of the carnival. His family was different now, but just as lovely.

He walked through the rooms, putting the weapon care items in their boxes in the training room, the incense on the rooftops, and all the body care items in front of everyone’s rooms. He couldn’t help but hum carnival songs under his breath, the memories brought back by the warmth of family and the sounds of rain.

The door to Beau and Yasha’s room was open, so he put their items on their bed. Beau was spending most of her days working on the Cobalt Soul annex that was opening in Rosohna. She was one of the expositors overseeing the work. Molly almost pitied the poor workers. Yasha was probably with her today, helping and acting as intimidating muscle, even if Beau didn’t need help in that department.

The longer time went, the more Beau’s aura of leadership and authority grew. 

He made sure to put everything where it belonged. He had gotten used to tidying and making sure all the cogs were running smoothly. He’d always been relatively messy, but that had changed. To his own surprise, he’d found himself taking comfort in being one of the Nein that made sure everything was ready to go at any given time, that everything was in place.

With time, they’d divided each other into two groups. The first, Caduceus, Molly and Yasha, took care of a lot of the everyday stuff, maintenance and supplies and the smooth running of the delicate machinery of the Mighty Nein. The second, Caleb; Veth, Jester and Beau tended more to the minutiae of the bigger picture, the diplomatic relations with the Kryn and the Empire, with their allies and their enemies, the research that kept their entire group afloat. Fjord navigated both groups, lending hands with weapon care as well as diplomacy and strategy.

It worked. It was pleasant and comforting, and Molly found himself at home in his role. 

He walked back down the stairs to the kitchen, where Caduceus was pouring simmering water into the teacups, over little satchels of the various blends. Caleb liked strong and citrusy, while Essek was more into the smokiness of a good oolong. Molly put two bear claws on towels on the tray with the cups and some extra hot water.

Caduceus kept pouring over cups for the both of them, while Molly directed himself to the library. 

It was quiet behind the wooden door, so he knocked with his tail. Some grumbled ‘ja?’ resounded. He smiled. The tea and sugary pastry would come at the right moment. If they were grumpy from elusive arcana, they needed the pick-me-up.

He opened the door and slipped inside with his tray. 

“Break time, boys,” he smiled. 

Caleb looked up at him from the desk he was hunched over. Essek was sitting back in one of the chairs, actually slumping, which was rare for him. From the look on both of their faces, it was really not going the way they wanted. 

“You’ll work better with some tea and food in you,” Molly pointed out, putting the tray down on a side table. He’d learned that the main desk sometimes had enchantments he could not see, and that putting down trays on it tended to ruin them. 

Caleb’s frown softened as he smiled tiredly. He reached for him, pulling Molly close for a moment, kissing his cheek. PDA? Oh this was really a hard one. Caleb tended to avoid PDA in front of anyone that wasn’t an official Nein member, and even then… 

Essek straightened up, looking towards the tray with obvious interest. 

“Thank you, schatz,” Caleb muttered. “You came at the right moment.” 

Molly smiled. “I have a sensor for wizard angst. The levels were getting way too high in here, I had to intervene.”

Caleb and Essek both chuckled. 

Sometimes, when they worked a lot together, they achieved a state where they would finish each other’s sentences and mirror each other. Molly used to be jealous of that connection. 

He’d been jealous of a lot of things at first, when it came to Essek. Essek and Caleb were incredibly similar, and Molly was well aware he could never compete with Essek on a scholarly level. Essek’s intelligence had been a major envy of Molly for a couple of months before he’d finally opened up about his insecurities. 

He didn’t feel any sort of jealousy towards him anymore. It had been a long road, but a good one. Caleb needed wizard friends, people he could discuss arcane things without having to explain every little principle like he usually did with most of them. 

Essek also seemed to desperately need friends. 

And Molly was definitely a fan of the idea of keeping him close. Could always be useful. 

“Good luck,” Molly said softly, squeezing Caleb in his arms for a second. “And if you’re not making headway, don’t push and frustrate yourselves. I do not want to deal with you two being pissy all evening.” He warned teasingly. “By the way, Jester wants you to stay for dinner,” he told Essek. 

“Who am I to refuse the lady’s invitation?” Essek answered. “Count me in.” 

Molly nodded and kissed Caleb’s cheek in turn before letting go of him and walking back to the door. He snatched his sewing bag on the way, waved at them and disappeared back to the kitchen. 

His own tea, a lemony gingery blend he favored, was waiting for him. Caduceus was sipping on his, a large pile of wool and knitting needles at the ready. He’d been steadily making his way through making a large sweater for Fjord and Molly enjoyed the three sleeves the most out of the design.

“The wizards have been watered,” he declared as he sat down. 

Caduceus smiled. “Good, good. I’m guessing Essek will stay for dinner.” 

“When hasn’t he, lately?” Molly pointed out, taking a sip of his tea. It was brewed to perfection, as always. 

The rain pattered against the window still. Like he’d done back in his carnival days, he took out his sewing kit and got to the necessary repairs first. Then, he moved to the creative needlework. He let any sort of worry melt away with precise motions of his fingers. He hadn’t lost his skills, thank the Moonweaver.

He’d been trying to draw out a picture of Frumpkin lately, but it was not going particularly well. He was lopsided enough that the resemblance was hard to figure out. No one had to know he was trying for Frumpkin, however. He could just pretend it was any other cat. At least, it looked feline enough. 

The rest of the cozy afternoon melted away with tea and simple, easy work, before the door banged open and Beau came in with a loud “Fucking Finally!”


End file.
